Spin Me A Memory
by Labony
Summary: When Alicia Spinnet suffers from Retrograde Amnesia due to a Quidditch accident, she wakes up feeling more alone than ever before. Little does she know she never has to be alone, not while Lee Jordan is around. Some swearing.
1. Chapter 1

**_Authors Note: This story does go along with the Prisoner of Azkaban timeline but a few things have been changed. Such as the first game Gryffindor plays against is Slytherin and Katie is dating Oliver. Just small things like that, nothing major. _**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the characters except for Nicole, Courtney and Sophie.**

* * *

**_Chapter 1_**

Thunder and lightning clapped over Hogwarts causing Alicia Spinnet to awake with a jolt.

She sighed to herself as she rolled over and fumbled for her watch. 10:30. Good. It was Saturday. Plenty of time to relax in bed, why she didn't have to move at all if she didn't want to. Alicia smiled with contentment at the thought of spending the whole day-

_SMACK. _

The sound of palm contacting with skin could be heard and Alicia felt a sharp stinging on her back. "What the hell?!" she shrieked.

"Rise and shine!" Angelina said brightly, poking her head around the curtains.

"Was it necessary to hit me so hard?" Alicia grumbled. She blinked in the dark room. Despite it nearly being midday, the clouds hung over the castle casting a shadow over their room.

"To get you up? Yes," Angelina shrugged. "First game of the season, remember? Don't want to be late, otherwise Wood will have a fit".

Alicia realised with horror that Angelina was already dressed in her Quidditch uniform. "I don't want to play in this weather!" she moaned.

"Get up lazy bones!" Angelina smirked. "When we win the match, you can sleep all you like."

Grumbling and grouching, Alicia forced herself out of the comfort of her warm bed and pulled on her own Quidditch uniform.

"Excellent," Angelina smiled. "The-"

An angry shout drowned out the rest of her sentence.

"Thayer! Will you get your stupid cat off my bed!" Nicole Steel demanded. Nicole was, without a doubt, the girls' least favourite dorm mate. With blonde hair and blue eyes, she was the perfect stereotype of every males fantasy.

If only her inner beauty was as wonderful as the rest of her. She was cold, cruel and just plain rude. The curtains on the bed to her left pulled open and Sophie Thayer blinked at her.

"What are you on about?" she asked, her voice heavy with sleep. Alicia couldn't help but smile at Sophie's messy bed hair which in contrast to Nicole's perfectly straight hair, looked like a black mop. With that being said though, Alicia found she'd much rather be in the company of friendly and caring Sophie than Nicole.

"Your cat is on my bed!" Nicole snapped as the black and white cat stretched out, yawning as it did so.

"Oh my goodness!" Sophie gasped, placing a hand over her heart. "I'm so sorry! Is your bed OK?"

Nicole ignored the sarcasm and glared at the girl.

"Get the cat off!" she growled.

Sophie simply smirked at her. "Here Daisy," she called, opening her arms wide and looking at her pet. The cat flung her tail up at Nicole before stretching lazily and with a tired 'meow' she jumped off the springy bed and leapt into Sophie's waiting arms.

"Keep that thing away from my bed," Nicole warned, pointing her finger at the kitty.

"Oh I'm terribly sorry," Sophie mock-apologized, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I hope your bed will survive! I mean-"

"Oh shut up, Thayer," Nicole hissed.

"Will you be QUIET?!" a voice roared, causing all heads to turn. The curtains of the final bed in the room were ripped open, revealing Sophie's best friend and Nicole's other arch enemy, Courtney Price.

Tucking a strand of her brown hair behind her ear and glaring at Nicole through her pale blue eyes, she emitted a yawn. Courtney was not at all a morning person and the last thing she enjoyed seeing so early was Nicole Steel.

"You have the most annoying voice!" Courtney groaned. "Daisy wasn't hurting you."

"Excuse me," Nicole said stiffly "but there are boundaries and-"

Courtney snored dramatically and fell back against the pillow rolling her eyes, causing a gargle of laughter to escape Sophie who shook her head at her and placed Daisy down at the foot of her bed.

Angelina and Alicia laughed too, watching the way Nicole gave an annoyed 'humph' and strutted into the bathroom to get ready. Once she was gone they both shared a look.

As much as Alicia and Angelina wanted to stay and see another fight between the girls, they were already running late and so, not wanting to be yelled at by their dear old captain, they hurriedly left the fifth years dormitory and wishing longingly they could still be in a comfortable bed just like their roommates.

* * *

Upon stumbling into the Great Hall, Alicia and Angelina saw that the rest of the team were already wide awake.

Oliver pounced on the pair as soon as he spotted them.

"You're late!" he cried angrily, rounding on them and stomping down the aisle towards them. "Where were you? No! Don't answer! Just eat! Hurry up!"

He looked hysterical, almost verging on manic as he started pacing up and down the aisle.

The team all watched him, although nobody said anything until Katie put down her spoon and swallowed her mouth full of cereal. "Oliver," she said tiredly. "Will you relax?"

"Relax!" Oliver scoffed. "How can I? We're playing against Slytherin! The most brutal team in conditions we haven't properly trained for because you lot have gotten sloppy over the summer! And to top it off, my Chasers turn up late, my Seeker looks as though he hasn't slept in days and my Beaters won't stop mucking around!"

"I'll oo alm own?" Fred said through a mouthful of bacon. Everyone stared at him and George sighed.

"He said will you calm down," he translated.

"I just said no!" Oliver cried, practically ripping out his hair.

"Merlin man, breathe!" George said. "You're obsessed."

"Obsessed!" Oliver echoed "I'll give you-"

But he broke off as Fred shoved some bacon in his mouth.

"'ave ome acon ate," he said cheerfully.

"Have some bacon, mate," George clarified as everyone turned to him for help to understand his twin. Most of the school finally made their way down and the rest of the breakfast passed by in a rush, Oliver urging and pleading for his team to hurry up. He breathed a sigh of relief when finally they were done.

"If only the weather was better," Katie said miserably, looking out the window at the dreary weather.

"Don't let a little rain get you down, Kates," Angelina winked.

"That's the spirit, Johnson!" Oliver said cheerfully. "Now come on! I want one hundred percent from the lot of you"

"Aye aye Cap'n!" George saluted as Fred bowed.

Alicia laughed as she trailed behind her team, the rain coming down in sheets. She ran a hand through her hair as she thought of how rough this match was going to be. She was at the Entrance door when suddenly her view was blocked by a pair of hands covering her eyes.

"Guess who?" a cheerful voice sung in her ears. She knew who it was instantly.

"Give me a clue?" Alicia teased.

"Well," the owner of that laid-back tone started. "He's incredibly handsome, very funny and has quite a way with the ladies."

Alicia giggled and shoved Lee's hands away. "Is he also a compulsive liar and has a knack for getting on McGonagall's bad side every single Quidditch match?" she turned to face him.

Lee waved a hand idly. "Those are minor details," he smirked. "People usually skim over those when they stare into my deep brown eyes."

Alicia snorted. "You're an idiot," she chuckled.

Lee pretended to look hurt. "Straight through the heart," he gasped before grinning. "So tell me Leesh, gonna win for once?"

Alicia gritted her teeth. She hated that nickname and he knew it, funnily enough though, Lee was the only one who got away with calling her that.

"It's Alicia!" she snapped.

Well, most of the time.

"No, I'm pretty sure it's Leesh," Lee chuckled as she glared at him.

"Do you want to die?" she questioned.

"Ah, no not really," Lee said. "You see, I'm at the prime of…of…my..."

Lee trailed off as Nicole strutted past.

"Hi Lee," she winked, a coy smile playing at the corner of her lips. Alicia mimicked vomiting as Lee continued to stare open-mouthed after Nicole.

"Earth to Lee," Alicia said fighting a mad desire to laugh at the look on his face. "Hello Lee!"

She waved a hand in front of his face and clicked her fingers but it didn't work, it seemed he was paralysed. Alicia rolled her eyes before grabbing one of Lee's dreadlocks and giving it a hard tug.

"OW!" he cried, pushing her away. "What the bloody hell was that for?"

"I had to get your attention somehow!" Alicia shot back. "A drooling commentator is not what we need".

"I wasn't drooling," he protested, quick to argue. "I was merely observing a very pretty girl".

Alicia rolled her eyes again. "You could do so much better," she sighed with a shake of her head.

"Why?" Lee said eagerly. "Do you know someone?"

Suppressing a third eye roll, Alicia patted Lee on the back. "Come on Casanova," she said. "Let's go before Oliver kills me."

She jogged ahead on the soppy grass and Lee watched her for a few seconds before coming out of his daze. "Hey Leesh!" he called after her. "Who's Casanova?"

Alicia didn't reply and he heard her laugh again as she headed towards the locker room, leaving Lee frowning in her wake. When she opened the door and snuck in she found Oliver standing in front of the board by the lockers and everyone gathered on or around the surrounding benches.

"Right," Oliver said, pointing to a very detailed diagram of a play he'd drawn meticulously on the board. "OK, now.."

They all stared at him. "Oliver?" Harry asked timidly. "Are you feeling alright?"

Oliver sighed. "This is my last year to win!" he said in an almost pleading tone. "It's my only chance to get the cup! So, please, just-"

"Play our best?" Katie offered.

"Play better!" Oliver corrected.

"Calm down, Olly old boy," Fred soothed.

Oliver glared at him. "This is serious!" he implored, throwing his hands in the air. "Don't let me down!"

"Have we ever?" Angelina smirked. Oliver didn't answer.

It was then they heard the crowds in the stands above them roar and begin their cheering, and over the sounds of clapping and chanting they heard Lee begin his commentary.

"Guess that's our cue eh?" Katie remarked, standing up off the bench and picking up her broom.

"Indeed it is m'lady!" George exclaimed, standing up too and holding out a hand for his twin. "Shall we Fred?"

"We shall!" Fred agreed, slinging his broom over his shoulder once George had helped him to his feet. "Our audience awaits!"

Angelina and Alicia shook their heads at them and followed Harry out the door and into the tunnel.

As the cold air encircled them and horizontal rain blew in through the tunnel opening, Alicia couldn't help but think back to her soft cozy bed.

"This is going to be a long match," she muttered to herself as they reached the pitch and stepped out. Her robes were drenched even before they'd reached the centre of the pitch, and the water dripping into her eyes made it hard to see much. She squinted against the rain to look up at the applauding - and equally soaked - spectators. The sea of red and green really popped against the dark, rainy backdrop high above her head, and she pulled her goggles on to stop herself from blinking so much. "This is going to be a really long match," she groaned again.

If only she realised, it was going to be much, much shorter than she would ever have thought possible.

* * *

Alicia traipsed over to the centre of the pitch, dodging deep puddles as she went. Once she reached it she mounted her broom and kicked off lightly, so that she was hovering alongside her teammates.

Everyone's eyes were locked on Madame Hooch and the two glaring captains in the centre of the circle.

"Captains, shake hands," Madame Hooch shouted over the downpour. Oliver and Flint scowled at each other before extending their hands and giving each other the quickest handshake Alicia had ever witnessed.

"Mount your brooms!" the flying coach yelled again, looking to see if both Captains were doing as they were told. Angelina winked at Alicia as they mounted their brooms. Once Oliver was mounted and had flown over to his Goal Hoops and Marcus was with the other Chasers she nodded approvingly, and gave them all one last lingering look before blowing her whistle.

The game had begun.

"And they're off!" Lee bellowed into the megaphone, huddling under his umbrella with McGonagall in the teachers' box.

As much as Alicia wanted to listen to his commentary, it was damn near impossible in this weather. Not only was the rain falling hard, hitting off her body and making her ache with the sheer force of it, but she could barely hear Angelina or Katie calling to her in-between passes. Coupled with the fact that it was ridiculously impossible to see anything, she knew she didn't have the luxury of listening to Lee. She had to concentrate.

"KATIE!" she roared to the blonde soaring up above. "PASS!"

She was shocked that the Chaser had even heard what Alicia had said, but grinned nonetheless when the blonde skilfully dropped the Quaffle into Alicia's waiting hand as she flew onwards towards the Slytherin Goal Hoops.

Alicia let out a frightened squeal when the leather ball almost slipped out of her hands. Trying desperately to keep a hold of it she tucked it under her arm protectively, having to squint against the rain to make sure she was heading towards the right go-

"OOF- What the-"

The wind was practically knocked out of her as something hard hit her right shoulder, punching the Quaffle out from underneath her arm and grabbing a hold of her broom to knock her off-course.

"MONTAGUE- ARGH!" she grunted as he aimed his elbow into her side and she attempted to kick him away.

He backed off just as Alicia heard a high-pitched whistle over the sound of the wind.

"-And yes as I thought that's TWO Fouls to Slytherin for Cobbing and Blagging!" Lee announced from his post. "HOW FUCKING DARE H- Oops sorry Professor," Lee said meekly as McGonagall swatted him over the head. He cleared his throat before continuing on, having to focus hard to make out the names on the back of the players robes. "And they're off again!"

* * *

Ten minutes later and they'd made no progress. Of course that depends on what you'd define as 'progress'.

If you were a Slytherin player, you may define it as earning one more foul in the space of five minutes, aiming a Bludger at Katie - which she only avoided due to Angelina's quick reflexes -, scoring a goal which Oliver swore was Haversacking, and generally playing like the scum of the Earth that they were, then yes. Slytherin were making excellent progress.

On the other hand if you were a Gryffindor player like Alicia you would say the complete opposite. In all honesty she thought Oliver was going to smash Derrick's face in for aiming that Bludger at Katie, but he needn't bother. Fred promptly aimed a Bludger directly at him, earning a foul for Gryffindor on the basis of Bumphing, but no one really cared.

Compared to how Slytherin were playing, Fred was positively angelic.

The three Chasers in red and gold swooped and dived around the Slytherin players, disorientating them enough to swipe the Quaffle out of Warrington's slippery hands.

As Katie tossed the Quaffle back to Angelina, who then passed it to Alicia above her she couldn't imagine a worse time to play Quidditch. Making them play in this weather was just pure torture.

Every drop of rain that hit her hands numbed her skin. Her hands could have been made of ice for all she knew right now, and her knuckles were turning white in a desperate attempt to keep a hold of her broom.

Alicia struggled to see through the downpour and barely knew what was going on around her.

Multiple times, she nearly crashed into Harry who zoomed past her searching for the golden winged ball, and briefly she caught a glimpse of Malfoy hot on his tail - his ash blonde hair stood out against the darkness. Her voice was going hoarse from the countless times she had shouted her apologies at the players.

Just as she pulled her hand back to take aim at the goal hoops, a flash of lightning ripped through the sky over head, blinding her momentarily. By the time she came to and swung her arm forward, the Quaffle was gone. She growled menacingly when she saw that Flint was already halfway back across the pitch with it.

She took off after him, completely losing track of everything. There was no way for her to know how many points they were winning or losing by, or to communicate with her fellow Chasers, and the rain had deafened her to the point where she couldn't hear Lee's albeit hilarious commentary of the match.

Though she thought she did hear McGonagall yelling at him through the microphone and had to fight a giggle.

Any loss of concentration would cost them the game.

She stalked Flint from above like a hawk, never letting him out of her sight. And she gripped her broom handle even tighter as she prepared to dive.

Completely unaware that somebody else was watching her, stalking her every move too.

"ALICIA! LOOK OUT!"

She heard the petrified yell, but with the frigid droplets numbing her body it took her longer than it should have for her to turn and see what was coming towards her.

By that time it was too late.

_CRACK. _

Katie let out a horrified yelp as she saw the Bludger hit her friend hard, and she covered her mouth were her hands as she tried not to cry.

It was intentional!

Bole bounced his Beaters Bat to his other hand to high-five Derrick whilst the other sneering Slytherins congratulated him on his 'wicked aim'.

Angelina could hardly believe what she was seeing, only really registering what happened when she heard her scream ringing in her ears.

There was nothing she could have done to stop it as the Bludger smashed into Alicia's head, and she watched in horror as it collided with her with a sickening thud resounding through the air.

Alicia didn't know what was happening.

Where was she?

Why was she on a broom?

Was it raining?

She no longer felt the icy droplets pelt off her skin.

She no longer cared that her body was freezing cold.

All she could feel was the sickening pressure at the back of her head, willing her eyes to close.

Desperately she tried to shake the feeling away, but to no avail.

Slowly but surely, her hold on the wooden broom handle began to slacken and her eyes drifted shut.

And then she felt weightless.

* * *

Katie let out a piercing scream as she watched her friend topple off her broom and fall through the air like a rag doll would, at the same time Angelina bellowed out her name.

Their screams seemed to draw the rest of the teams attention to her and countless eyes followed their gaze to Alicia's limp figure.

Lee could be heard through the speaker as McGonagall stood up and watched her student hurl towards the ground.

"Someone catch her!" Lee yelled out, pointing to Alicia as she neared the sodden ground.

Oliver remained frozen momentarily, along with Fred who felt George plunge forward beside him in an attempt to catch his friend.

Nobody took notice of the Slytherins who carried on playing.

Fred was shaken out of his frozen state at the same time Katie, Angelina and Harry followed George in his frenzied attempt to catch her.

None succeeded as an ear-splitting thump met their ears signalling her limp body had met the ground.

For a moment there was silence.

"No," Oliver gasped, hearing Katie burst out into tears by his side and Angelina let out a whimper.

"ALICIA!" Lee bawled, shoving teachers aside to make it to the stairs of the stands. He had to get to her.

"Leesh!" George cried, kneeling down at her side and shaking her heavy shoulders.

"No, no, no ALICIA!" Angelina whimpered, crouching down on the other side of George and fussing over her friend.

"Out of my way!" Lee barked as he elbowed George aside to reach her. His heart broke at what he saw. There was no expression on her face. No movement behind her closed eyelids.

Nothing.

"Someone take her to the hospital wing!" he yelled over the rain, not bothering to cover up the hurt all over his face or the panicked tone in his voice.

"Oh my god," Katie whispered into Oliver's shoulder. She couldn't look. "Oh my god!"

"Would you believe this?" Oliver said looking up, one arm wrapped around Katie as he gestured to the sky with the other. "The Slytherins are still playing!"

"Who cares?!" Katie screeched at her captain. "What about Alicia?"

Fred and George continued to work over Alicia, trying to revive her somehow as Lee and Harry stood back a bit in horror.

She lay on the ground, her hair mixing with the blood that wept from the gaping wound in the back of her head. Her left leg was bent at an unusual angle and there was a large purple bruise already forming on her right cheek. The sight of her arms looking as though there were no bones in them gave Harry a chill as he remembered having bones removed from his arm the year before.

"Damn!" Fred whispered just as Dumbledore and McGonagall reached them.

The twins moved aside as the Headmaster bent down beside the fallen player and examined her gingerly.

He was grave as he stood back up and looked at them. "She needs the hospital wing, immediately."


	2. Chapter 2

**_Chapter 2. _**

The darkness was peaceful. Soothing almost.

Alicia could get used to it.

It was calm and quiet – serene and warm. No feeling she had ever felt could be compared to this. It was like a huge hole had sucked her in and closed itself around her, like a black mess of nothingness. A web of numbness.

It was simple, no questions and no anger.

It was just her and darkness.

The darkness was peaceful.

In some ways it felt as though she was under water. Completely weightless. There was a pressure at the back of her head, almost reaching her ears, but not quite – as if her head was about to explode.

And in some ways it felt as if someone had placed a big rock on her chest. Sometimes she found it hard to breathe, and her body jolted in an attempt to rid herself of it, but apart from that, the feeling was easy to ignore. Yes, in some ways it felt as if she were under water but then again it also felt as if she were floating. Floating through a world of nothingness. Of darkness.

A world where time did not exist.

She racked her brains to remember, remember what happened. Why was she here? Did she belong here in this strange world?  
...No...she knew that she didn't. But then why was she here?

Even after reaching into the back of her subconscious, into the furthest corner of her mind, Alicia found no answers to her questions. And so she felt her control starting to weaken, and let herself drift back into this world.

The darkness was peaceful. Alicia could get used to it.

"-Did you see all the blood?" came a faraway voice.

"Of course I saw the blood George, you prat I was there!" a different voice - a female one - snapped.

"Oh yeah," the forlorn voice replied.

Alicia found herself searching the darkness, searching for the voices. There were other people here?

"Lee? You alright, mate?" a new voice asked hesitantly.

"Of course he isn't Fred, you tosser! Bloody hell, I could have sworn he'd have a heart attack!" the same female voice said irritably.

"Lay off him guys," a softer, more gentle voice chided. "Besides these two gits, Alicia is his closest friend. The pair have practically been inseparable since they were eleven! Give him some time, yeah?"

"Thank you, Katie."

"Do you think she'll be well enough to play next match? We've got some-"

"Oliver! Not now!" the gentle voice flared up exasperatedly.

After searching the darkness, Alicia found the voices weren't coming from this strange new world. They were coming from beyond. Somewhere she couldn't quite see, but knew she had to reach it somehow.

And so she opened her eyes. So suddenly that the light hitting her big brown orbs almost hurt, causing her to groan groggily and shut them again immediately.

"Alicia?" a deep male voice asked gently.

Forcing her eyes open, she groaned again at the throbbing sensation in her head. And she brought a hand up to clutch the back of it. Her arms were extremely stiff. Alicia shifted herself to be more comfortable, and only then did she feel the sides of her arms hit off something hard. Her eyes widened when she found herself in a bed. A hospital bed. With pale green sheets and metal railings along the side. The mattress wasn't all that comfortable, and she was tempted to draw the white curtains surrounding her bed to block out the offending light.

"Alicia?"

Her eyes darted upwards, and only then did the realization that seven very dirty and sopping wet people were crowded around her hit home. She looked around but her vision was still hazy, and the figures looked fuzzy to her eyes.

"Ali?" another voice pressed. "Alicia, are you OK?"

Alicia tilted her head then before realising the speaker -a tall black girl- was staring straight at her. Her big almond shaped, chocolate brown eyes glistened with unshed tears and concern was etched into every line of her face.

"I'm sorry?" Alicia begged to the girl.

"Are you OK?" the girl repeated, sounding a bit more forceful than before.

"I'm fine?" Alicia offered, her eyes traveling between the different faces around her bedside. "Why shouldn't I be?"

"Because you got hit in the back of the head and fell off your broom that's why," another speaker clarified - a boy with dreadlocks. He sat on the bed beside her and tenderly reached out a hand to brush a curly strand of auburn hair out of her face.

Alicia flinched from his touch. "What are you doing?" she asked timidly, finding herself relieved when he retracted his hand.

"Moving a piece of hair, Leesh" he stated simply, a curious glint in his eyes.

"I'm sorry," Alicia sighed. "But who are you? And who's this Leesh?"

There was a laugh from the people around the hospital bed, but Alicia remained perfectly serious.

"What's so funny?" she demanded to know.

"You," a freckled red-headed boy chuckled.

"What did I say?" she questioned, her voice becoming higher the more piqued she got.

"Asked who Lee was and who Leesh was," another boy, the absolute double of the other freckled one grinned.

The dreadlocked boy looked at her curiously. "I'm Lee and you're Alicia, or Leesh," he explained slowly, doing gestures with his hands between them to help her understand better.

"And who are you lot?" Alicia asked, gesturing to the others surrounding the bed.

"You really don't know?" a burly brown haired boy with a Scottish accent asked. His face was the definition of 'bamboozled'.

"Would I really be asking if I knew?"

One of the freckled boys threw his head back in laughter. "Very funny, Alicia but you better stop before the joke gets too old."

"Joke? Who said anything about a joke?!" she exclaimed.

They all stared at her. Alicia was one who could never keep a joke going. She would always ruin it by laughing but now she looked so serious.

A boy with glasses and messy black hair spoke. "Maybe, we should get Madam Pomfrey?" he suggested into the awkward silence.

"Good thinking Harry," a blonde girl beside the Scottish boy praised.

"Who's Madam Pomfrey?" Alicia asked, her voice wavering.

She watched the blonde girl run to a small box-like room over to the left of the large expansive wing she was in. Alicia hadn't even noticed it was there as the girl emerged, followed by a frowning elderly woman with grey hair and an apron tied around her waist.

"Can someone please tell me who you all are?!" Alicia cried, almost hysterically as the old woman lifted up a wand to her face and shone a bright, white light in her eyes.

"All of you, outside whilst I check Miss Spinnet over," she ordered, ushering everyone out of the room before turning back and shining the light from one eye to the other and proceeding to check her temperature and other vital signs.

They quickly obeyed leaving Alicia more terrified than ever.

* * *

Outside though, things weren't much better.

"-Can you believe that?! The Slytherins kept on playing! Nevermind that that's over eleven separate fouls, but it's just the indecency of it! I mean where's the sportsman-like conduct?! I wouldn't be surprised if they've thrashed us by over 300-10."

Lee watched Oliver rant as he paced up and down the corridor outside the large Hospital Wing doors. The look on his face was none short of disbelief. And anger.

"Alicia's in there with no idea what's going on and you're more arsed about Quidditch?!" he shouted, pushing himself off the wall where he'd been leaning before to advance on the Captain.

"I-I was just saying," Oliver defended, backing up into George with his arms raised in surrender. "T-The game-I'm sorry! M-My fault.." he mumbled, trailing off with a dismal expression.

"Oli," Katie soothed, coming over and putting a firm hand on his toned bicep. "This isn't your fault. Calm down, love."

"I should have done something though! I'm captain!" he retorted, feeling more guilty than he ever had done in his life.

Angelina shook her head adamantly. "Can we focus on what's important right now?" she implored, gesturing with her head towards the tall Oak doors.

"Besides," Harry muttered. "None of the rest of us caught Alicia...so it wasn't just your fault, Oliver."

"Exactly Ol, we're just as much to blame as anyone else. So stop beating yourself up," Katie finished, searching her boyfriends eyes for some kind of acknowledgment that this wasn't all his fault.

Her answer came in the form of a tight nod and he pulled her in for a hug, resting his chin atop her head.

Lee ran a hand through his hair frustratedly as the minutes ticked by.

They all waited for Madam Pomfrey.

Time passed. How much exactly, none knew. It could have been over half an hour - heck, it could have been hours for what it felt like! Lee couldn't help but tap his foot impatiently in-between paces and heavy sighs.

Katie had been right.

Outside of the twins, Alicia was one of his best friends and he was very nervous. Probably more than he ought to be, considering he was only a friend to her.

"Lee?" Angelina said after a while from where she sat on the stone floor with her back against the wall.

Lee didn't look up. He was too busy counting the cracks in the slabs beneath his feet to distract himself. "Mhm?"

"'Licia is a tough cookie, she'll pull through this," she said gently.

"I know," Lee mumbled as he tore his eyes from the floor to look at his friend.

They both shared a long look. One that communicated that although they both had no doubt Alicia would get through this somehow, they both knew that it would be a difficult road to get there. Almost as if on cue, the doors behind them swung open and Madam Pomfrey appeared, tutting and bustling out into the corridor.

"Oh really!" Madam Pomfrey rebuked, eyeing the muddy foot prints all over the floor and the puddles of water. "You're tracking mud and water everywhere! Can't you all go get cleaned up?"

Lee rounded on her and stared her down determinedly. "We will when we know what's wrong with Alicia."

The matrons expression seemed to soften. "It's not good," she admitted with a sigh.

Lee's face crumbled. "What?" he whimpered.

Everyone behind him shared a withering glance. No one had seen Lee like this, not even the twins.

"I'm afraid Miss Spinnet has suffered brain damage." There was no way to sugar-coat it. No way to soften the blow, so the matron just came out and said it.

Angelina gasped loudly and Katie let out a sob as she curled into Oliver, burying her face into his robes. The twins looks gob-smacked, while Harry just stood gaping at the woman. He looked as though she'd just told him Alicia had sprouted three heads and five arses for all the difference it would have made to his expression.

"Is-Is she going to have to be taken to St. Mungos?" Lee asked, understanding the gravity of the situation.

"No," Madam Pomfrey said with a shake of her head. "After discussing this with Professor McGonagall, we've decided that context and cues are best for her right now. Hopefully by having her in a familiar setting, it will help her piece things together."

Everyone was quiet as they processed the information.

"So..." Oliver said into the silence. "What happens now? Can she play-"

"Enough about Quidditch!" Angelina said brusquely, swatting him over the head.

"Sorry," he squeaked.

They all stared at the matron. "What do we do?" Katie asked helplessly.

"As her friends, it will be your job to help piece everything together for her. Whatever you can I suppose. She needs comfort, familiarity, love and care to guide her through this very fragile state she's in. Only you, her friends can give her that."

"How long will it take to get her back to normal?" Lee asked in a hollow voice.

"However long it takes." Madam Pomfrey gave them a minute to internalize what she was saying, but they all understood. It could be years before Alicia could possibly have her memory back for all they knew. "She'll need an escort when she leaves the hospital wing," the matron then went on to say. "Someone willing to get her to classes and show her around the school. Someone to help her remember. Normally I would assign this role of responsibility to the Head Boy or Girl, but considering you're her friends I think it best one of you take up this task."

Everyone looked at the one person they knew would never let Alicia leave his sight. And Madam Pomfrey honed in on him right away.

"Mr Jordan? Are you alright?" she asked. The boy looked paler than usual - whether it be from the weather or the shock starting to settle in she did not know.

"Of course he is," Fred answered for him, patting him on the back. "He's absolutely spiffing!"

"And I'm sure he'd be delighted to be Alicia's boyfri- I mean 'escort'," George winked.

"Piss off," Lee growled under his breath to the mischievous red-head on his other side.

"Well?" Madame Pomfrey urged, looking at the boy expectantly. "Will one of you do it or shall I notify Mr. Weasley and Miss Clearwater of this tragic event and leave it to them to handle Alicia?"

"No," Lee spoke up. "I'll do it." He said it determinedly, not afraid to stand up and take the responsibility.

"Thank you," Madam Pomfrey said kindly, and with one last sympathetic smile slipped back into the room to hurry back to Alicia's bedside.

Once she was gone Katie walked forward and cleared her throat delicately. "Lee," Katie started slowly, almost uncertainly. "You're a boy."

"Yeah, so?"

"How do you expect to help Alicia all the time?" she questioned. "She's in a different dormitory from you for starters, not to mention different classes for more than half the day."

"That's where you and Ange come in," he answered simply, not taking his eyes off the doors in front of him.

"Ah," the girls realized.

"Perhaps we should go introduce ourselves, eh?" Harry suggested.

Their shoulders all sagged as they sighed, never before imagining they would have to re-introduce themselves to someone they had been friends with for years.

"I guess so," Katie said, grasping Oliver's hand tightly.

"We could introduce ourselves as Gred and Forge!" Fred joked, trying to lighten the mood a bit, following the group back towards the doors.

"Yeah, It's not like anyone can tell the difference between us anyway."

"Don't you dare!" Angelina warned, rounding on Fred and poking him hard in the chest before flaring at George too. "Or so help me Frederick Gideon and George Fabian, I'll kick your arses so hard you won't be able to sit down on them for a month!"

"Alright, alright," George tried to soothe, quick to argue.

"Yeah, just trying to diffuse the tension."

Angelina sent them both one last haughty scowl before filing in behind the rest of the team, Fred and George following behind her.

* * *

Though news travels fast in Hogwarts, somehow, it seemed Madam Pomfrey had been able to hide the truth of what had happened to Alicia. If even at least for the first week that Alicia was recovering in the Hospital Wing.

The story that had been spread around the school was that she'd fractured her wrist and had severe concussion.

On the first day, Fred and George had had a bet going that nobody would buy it. Her fall had simply been too bad for her to only walk away with concussion - even if the story they were spinning said it was 'severe'. The Quidditch team had made a pact to keep it between themselves and the girls roommates, but even still George was doubtful. So it was safe to say it had shocked the hell out of him when Fred had made him pay up, when by the next Tuesday people hadn't caught on yet to what was actually going on with her.

So nobody paid much attention to Lee as he twiddled his thumbs outside the Hospital Wing a full week later.

It was the day Alicia was supposed to be released, and Lee had made sure to be outside the Hospital Wing for 12:30, just like Madam Pomfrey had said. It was the back of 1:00 now, and still no sign of Alicia.

But he didn't mind, he figured she'd be a bit nervous.

In all honesty, she was terrified.

It took Madam Pomfrey over twenty minutes to calm her down enough to even think about opening the doors and walking outside the Hospital Wing. When they did, they found Lee waiting outside.

"Oh hi!" he greeted, putting on his warmest smile. He'd been surprised to hear the doors open next to him, and pushed himself off the wall he'd been leaning against to look at the pair.

"Hello," Alicia said politely. She tried returning the smile, she knew he was trying to be nice. But really all she managed was a sort of grimace.

Lee sighed inwardly. He missed the old Alicia.

"Mr. Jordan," Madam Pomfrey nodded to the young man. "Good to see you, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

"No problem, no problem," he said quickly. He didn't want Alicia to feel bad or anything only after being out of the hospital 5 seconds.

Alicia could sense he was trying hard, and she appreciated it, so much so that she actually managed to give him a proper smile. Even if it was just a small one. "So what happens now?" she asked timidly.

"Well, you'll go to classes as you normally would and try your best. Most of your teachers have been notified, as have your other roommates. I've also cleared an hour slot in my schedule in the evening at least twice a week, I'll Owl you the times and I'd be grateful if you'd come and see me then for weekly progress reports. And of course you'll be helped and escorted by Mr Jordan," she smiled kindly. "Aside from that all I can say is I'll see you later this week for our first check-up appointment and good luck dear."

She bowed her head to the two students and gave Alicia one last smile and an affectionate pat on the shoulder before walking back into the Hospital.

Once she was gone, the pair stood in the empty hallway. Neither one of them saying anything. Alicia stared at a spot on her shoe as though it were the most fascinating thing in the world, while Lee shoved his hands in his pockets and exhaled loudly.

"Ready to go?" he asked after a minute or so, gesturing with his head down the hallway.

She lifted her head to look up at him through her veil of thick eyelashes. "I guess so," she murmured nervously.

"Alrighty then, grab your stuff and let's go."

Alicia nodded but as soon as soon as she bent down to pick up her duffel bag, the whole corridor began to spin.

"Whoa there," Lee soothed as he ran to her grab her side and steady her. "Steady on."

"Sorry," she winced. Already she was starting to feel like a bit of an inconvenience. She breathed deeply to get rid of the sick feeling in her stomach - not quite sure whether that was nerves or her condition that was causing it. Once she was ready she turned to look at him, and offered what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "Where to?"

"Er-" Lee stammered, scratching the back of his head. "The common room, I guess? It's Saturday, so classes aren't on today. Unless you'd rather go outside?" he gestured out the window where Sunlight was flooding the grounds.

"I don't mind," she shrugged nonchalantly.

"What would you like to see first?" he smirked, already knowing what the answer would be.

"Outside."

He had to hold back a smug grin when she answered almost immediately. "Alright then," Lee said, bending down to take her bag and sling it over his shoulder. "Follow me."

And Alicia did just that. She followed Lee away from the wing and down through the castle, in complete awe of all the moving portraits and the sheer grandeur of the staircase. It was like she was experiencing it all for the first time again.

Lee was grateful that the corridors were mostly empty. He had a feeling that it would have been too overwhelming for Alicia otherwise.

When they reached the Entrance Hall he cast her a sideways glance and saw that she was still staring around the school with wide-eyed wonder.

"It's a really big place, isn't it?" she breathed.

"Yeah," Lee remarked.

"What's that in there?" she wondered, stopping in the centre of the hall to point at a large room off to the right.

"Oh that? It's the Great Hall," he told her.

She nodded at the information, but still didn't look away. "It looks pretty busy in there," she observed, looking past the open doors and at all the students milling about four very long tables - playing Exploding Snap or chatting with their friends.

"Yeah, it's where we eat and stuff like that. They'll be getting ready for lunch soon," he explained, tugging her lightly by the hand and leading her out the large Oak doors and down the stone steps onto the grounds.

Students lay around the grass, some in groups and others on their own - just basking in the Suns warm rays and enjoying the weather.

People looked at Alicia as she passed and Lee noticed her pale slightly at their prying eyes. Lee couldn't help but feel sorry for her. In just a week she'd been thrown out of her old life and into a new one, filled with thousands of strangers. All of whom knew more about her than even she did herself.

Lee glared at anyone who dared to stare at Alicia longer than necessary, and people quickly got the message and hastily averted their eyes. It was obvious she was confused and terrified.

Why couldn't they just leave her be?

Luckily it didn't take them long to reach their destination, and Lee flopped down on the grass at the base of an old tree - enjoying it's shade from the canopy of green leaves. They were by the lake, and from where they sat it offered the perfect view of the rolling hills, the bright blue sky, and the sun's reflection in the glassy surface of the water.

She hesitated before joining him and Lee gazed out over the waters edge and they sat in silence for a minute. He couldn't remember a time when things had been so awkward between him and one of his closest friends. Normally, Alicia would be chatting non-stop until Lee made a teasing remark to shut her up or to get playfully punched instead. Either way, it usually ended in laughter, but as Lee turned back to Alicia and noticed her frowning at him, he guessed that it would take awhile before they were able to laugh freely like that again.

"What?" Lee smirked.

Alicia was embarrassed at being caught watching him and cleared her throat before speaking.

"I-I was just wondering," she started slowly. "...How many years have I known you?"

"Since we were eleven," he answered simply.

"Oh," Alicia said into the silence. "And who are you to me? Are you my best friends brother? Or my cousins boyfriend? Or...?"

"We're friends, have been for a while. I know you as well as Angelina and Katie do - probably better actually now that I think about it."

A smile tugged at the corner of her lips then and she seemed to relax more next to him. "I wondered why you offered to help me," she told him before stopping as another question popped into her head. "Hey do I-"

She broke off though as a dark shadow crossed over them, and looking up, Alicia gave a small scream as a giant of man beamed down at them.

"Hey Hagrid," Lee grinned looking up at the giant. He ignored the way Alicia grabbed onto his forearm and ducked her head behind his shoulder.

"Hullo Lee!" he said cheerfully. "Alicia, good ter see yeh out an' about. How are yeh feelin'?"

Realizing that he wasn't about to eat her for lunch or clobber her to death, she peaked her eyes over the top of Lee's shoulder, just enough that she was able to see him. "Fine!" she squeaked.

She was shaking like a leaf.

"That was a pretty nasty fall yeh had," Hagrid frowned. "Are yeh all better now?"

Fall? Alicia's forehead furrowed in a frown. What the heck was he talking about?

"I-I don't know what you mean..."

"She just needs rest," Lee said quickly in a tone that informed Hagrid to drop the subject.

"Ah I see," Hagrid winked at him, recognizing that look and realizing he'd said something he ought not to. "I'll leave yeh in peace then. Have a good weekend the pair o' yeh, I'll see yeh both in class on Monday!" he bid before turning around and striding back off across the grounds, waving at students as he passed.

"Who the hell was that?" Alicia gasped, relaxing her hold on Lee's arm once Hagrid was out of earshot. "The growing fairy was kind to him! He's a giant!"

"Half actually."

"Half!" Alicia cheeped, feeling a bit faint. "What did he mean about my fall? Tell me, what happened to me. I want to know everything."

Lee looked a bit uncomfortable as he shifted on the grass beside her. He knew it wasn't such a good idea to get her so worked up, especially not so soon.

"I will, when its better," he tried to avoid.

"Tell me," Alicia pleaded, clutching his arm again. "I need to know what happened to me."

He sighed heavily and rubbed at his eyes. Oh how he hoped he wasn't going to regret this. "Alright, ready?"

"Mhm," Alicia nodded, angling her body towards his so he had her full attention, listening eagerly.

He held her hand as he replayed what he had seen from the commentators stand, that day a week ago. All Alicia could do was stare at him in horror as her face blanched gradually with every new bit he revealed.

But he realised as he finished his story, it wasn't horror of what she'd heard, it was horror of the fact she had no idea what the hell Lee was on about.

"What's a Bludger?" she questioned. "And Quidditch?"

"The sport we play," he clarified.

"Oh," Alicia said and pulled her hand away from his to slide a hand through her slightly frizzy hair. It was all so confusing.

"You'll pick it up in no time," he assured her.

Alicia nodded distractedly. As much as she wanted to believe him, on the inside she felt, if possible, even more horrified.


	3. Chapter 3

**_ Chapter 3._**

Oliver Wood was nervous.

No, furious.

No, panicked!

ARGH! He didn't know what he was!

There weren't enough bloody words in the world to describe what he was feeling.

The entire team - minus Alicia - had been called to an emergency meeting in the Quidditch Locker Room, and they all eyed him warily as he paced up and down in front of them. His eyes never left the ground as he marched backwards and forwards, wracking his brains.

The rest of them all either sat on the surrounding benches or against their lockers on the concrete floor. Some of them had their chins propped up in their hands, gazing aimlessly into space while others were watching Wood intently.

Nobody dared say anything, Katie least of all as she followed her frenzied boyfriend's every move.

"Katie!" he barked suddenly, causing her to jump as her eyes met his. Everyone else exchanged a look. No one had failed to notice that Oliver had addressed her by her first name, something that nearly everyone else on the team had rarely experienced before themselves.

"What?" she asked in a small voice. She was fully aware that everyone was looking at them.

"Did you see which Slytherin hit Alicia?" he growled menacingly. Oliver was prepared to go and attack the whole team if he had to!

Katie tried to remember but all she knew was it was one of the Beaters, so she shook her head sadly. "I-I'm sorry Oliver," she sighed. "The rain was just too thick..."

Oliver groaned loudly as he wrung his fingers through his dark brown hair. "This is a disaster!"

"Well-Well what do we do?" Harry asked from beside Katie on the bench. "Do we get a substitute? Put her in reserves? Replace her or-?"

"-Quidditch rules state that 'no team member can be rightly replaced unless there is just cause'," Oliver recited. "And I can't even begin to think of a decent substitute. We'll have to test her skills and monitor her progress. Even though I doubt her skills will come back overnight I'll be damned if I'm giving in that easily!" he vowed determinedly. "I am NOT getting rid of one of my star Chasers that easily!"

"Nobody's telling you to get rid of her," George said gently, earning a scowl from Oliver. "We're not!" he said in defence. "As far as she's concerned she's never ridden a broom in her life - let alone played a whole sport that revolves around it!"

"Yeah mate," Fred added, picking up on where George was going with this. "All we're saying is maybe think about replacing her until she's got the han-"

"No," Oliver dismissed, shooting down his suggestion without a second thought and slumping down on the other side of Katie to put his head in his hands.

Angelina breathed out loudly and rubbed at her eyes. "This is not good," she sighed. "How could she lose her memory?!"

"Well," Fred mused. "If I recall correctly it had something to do with her falling off her broom and taking a Bludger to the head."

Angelina and Katie turned to glare icily at him while Katie rubbed her hands soothingly across Oliver's broad shoulders.

"Just trying to lighten the mood," he mumbled, from his spot over by the lockers.

Katie watched Oliver carefully as he pinched the bridge of his nose, sure that he was going to break down any minute.

Oliver was scared to death. His team was falling to hell. And as he wracked his brains to come up with a solution to it, ANY solution, he came up hopelessly short.

"What are we going to do?" he whimpered to no one in particular.

Nobody answered. Honestly, they had no clue either.

* * *

"And these knights along here, you see them? Yeah, they've been rumoured to move!" Lee explained animatedly.

Alicia struggled to keep up with him as she hurried behind him, her feet aching with every passing step. It felt as though she'd been given a tour of every single corridor below the fifth floor, and she was exhausted.

"Lee," she said tiredly, although he hadn't seemed to hear her.

"I've never seen them move before, but George swears that this one time when he and Fred were running from Filch, they-"

"Lee!" she called a bit more forcefully. She had stopped walking, and was standing in the middle of the corridor, however Lee, completely oblivious to that fact was still walking off at a brisk pace.

Only then did Lee realize he couldn't hear her footsteps behind him anymore, or smell her sweet perfume lingering in the air around him and he stopped mid-step to glance over his shoulder. His eyes widened and he immediately ran back to stand in front of her.

"Sorry about that," he said meekly, looking at the ground to cover up his blush a bit. Why did he get so damn flustered and distracted around her?

"S'alright," she shrugged with a half-smile, putting his blush simply down to his embarrassment. "As amazing of a tour guide as you are, would you mind if we did something different?"

He could hear the tentativeness in her voice, and quickly nodded enthusiastically. He didn't want her being shy to ask him anything.

"Sure, anything! Name it!"

It was Alicia's turn to blush slightly now and she wrung her hands together nervously. "Well I'm quite tired…would you mind if we just went back to the-What was it you called it? The Common Room?"

Lee smiled at her and started walking back towards the arch at the end of the corridor that would take them back to the Grand Staircase, happy to see that Alicia fell back into step beside him.

"I'm impressed, you've obviously been listening," he grinned.

"I'm a fast learner," she shrugged as they passed through the archway and took off up the stairs. "And it helps that I've had a good tour guide."

He gave her an amused sideways glance. "Good? More like _excellent_," he joked, nudging her playfully and causing her to giggle. "Did you not find my explanation about the ghosts on the second floor fascinating?"

"Oh yes," she teased. "Two ghosts locked in an endless game of Wizards Chess, fascinating," she winked, giggling again when he stuck his tongue out at her.

They didn't say much more as they walked, both for different reasons. Lee was too busy grinning to himself, it felt so good to see her getting back to her old self again - maybe there was hope after all for a full recovery? Alicia on the other hand was focusing too hard on remembering the route they'd taken off the stairs. It didn't even register that they'd turned through a series of corridors until Lee came to a complete stop in front of a wall at the end of one, the light from the oil lanterns flickering and causing his big hazel eyes to glint.

Alicia looked around confusedly. "Where's the door? I don't see it anywhere…"

"Right here," Lee nodded to the wall in front of him.

"Right where?" she pressed, growing impatient.

Her eyes searched the wall in front of them, but all she saw was portraits - of all different sizes. Some with gold frames, some with black, some chunky, some thin and there were canvases with no frames at all! She admired them as much as she did scrutinize them, the one catching her eye the most being the one directly in front of her. It was of a large fat lady all dressed in pink, and her frame was tall…very tall actually.

"Is it he-"

"Are you two going to stand there all day?" the lady in the portrait demanded, causing Alicia to jump back in fright. She knew she should have been used to talking portraits by now, but really she wasn't at all.

"Sorry," she mumbled, looking to Lee for some help.

"Fortuna Major," he said loudly.

"About time," the Fat Lady muttered under her breath as her portrait swung open to grant the pair access. Alicia blinked at the sight the swinging portrait revealed, a low hole in the wall, just about the right size to crouch through into a bright and warmly lit room on the other side.

Lee saw her hesitate and gave her a small smile. "Come on, it's just through here," he gestured with his head, climbing through a little bit first before glancing back over his shoulder and holding out a hand to help her through.

Alicia only hesitated for a moment this time before grasping his hand tightly, letting him hoist her up and clambering through the hole after him.

"I'll help you around where I can and the girls in your dorm will help you too," Lee assured her as he hopped down into the welcoming circular room.

He held her hand as she jumped down after him, and when Alicia lifted her head, she saw two girls spot them and walk over to them from the couches they'd been sitting on. Lee recognized them as Sophie and Courtney and scrambled out of the way as they could threw themselves at Alicia, causing her to stagger back as they hit her.

"Alicia!" Sophie cried, her arms tight around her friends neck. "You're out of the hospital wing! How are you?"

"Fine I think," Alicia struggled out of the hug and looked at Lee for help.

"Girls, she still needs to breathe."

Sophie moved back, an apologetic smile on her face.

"I-" Alicia struggled to find the right words to say before her shoulders slumped and she sighed. "I don't know who you are," she mumbled, her eyes falling to the ground as she sat on the nearest sofa.

The girls exchanged glances. Although the Gryffindor team had been sworn to secrecy, they had told their closest friends and Sophie and Courtney had learnt from Angelina. However, even finding out beforehand couldn't have prepared them for this - hearing about it and experiencing it was two different things.

"I'm Sophie, and this is Courtney. We share a room with you," Sophie explained slowly, as though she were talking to a mental patient.

"Oh," Alicia uttered, feeling her head swim. She leaned back against the sofa. It was all just too much to take in, and she realized she needed sleep. Badly. That seemed an impossible dream, however, as the portrait hole opened again and Courtney let out an audible groan as Nicole walked in.

"Shush," Sophie smirked at her best friend. "We'll get her later."

Courtney whispered something back that Alicia didn't catch but it set Sophie off into a fit of giggles.

"Oh hi, Lee," Nicole said giving him a bright smile and batting her lashes.

"Hey," Lee replied tiredly. Nicole spotted Alicia and a look of mock concern washed over her face.

"Alicia!" she cried exaggeratedly. "How are you feeling, sweetie?"

"Fine," Alicia mumbled awkwardly, looking to Lee and her apparent friends for help. Although she couldn't remember much, one thing she knew for sure was that she didn't like irritating pet names like that.

Nicole eyed Alicia closely, watching the way Alicia looked helplessly to her friends on either side of her and sighed irately.

"My name is Nicole," Nicole explained in a bored voice, as though Alicia were stupid and not forgetful.

"She's not an idiot," Courtney grumbled. "And how'd you find out anyway?"

"I have my ways," Nicole hissed at Courtney before smiling at Alicia sweetly. "You look tired. Why don't I show you to our dormitory?"

Alicia nodded slowly. "If you don't mind," she said though she gazed at Lee. Before he could protest, Nicole had pulled Alicia to her feet and dragged her halfway towards the stairs.

"Don't you worry a single dreadlock on your lovely little head, Lee," Nicole called, shoving Alicia through the archway and up the first couple of steps. "I'll look after her!"

"That's a perfect reason to worry," Courtney drawled as Nicole bounced out of sight up the winding stairs.

* * *

Minerva McGonagall was a woman who liked cleanliness; she enjoyed order and was particularly fond of structure.

She nodded approvingly as she peered at the Gryffindor Common Room over the top of her specs. The sun was rising over the tops of the trees outside and the morning suns rays were streaming through the arched windows along the far wall. Yes, everything was in order, just as it should be.

As she climbed the winding stairs and stepped into the boys fifth year dormitory however, only one thing crossed her mind: disgust. In fact, if weren't for the reason she desperately needed to speak to one of the boys, she would have turned tail and fled from the room.

It was so bad that even Minerva, herself, didn't want to tell them off, she only wanted to escape!

The smell was horrid and the objects thrown from their trunks did nothing to help the decor. Taking a deep breath and crinkling her nose in revulsion, the deputy headmistress observed the three beds in front of her.

Lee lay sprawled across his covers, his arms dangling over the edge. Fred was turned on his left while George lay on his right side, one of the few differences between the pair. However, a similarity they both shared was that of opened mouths and drool dripping down their chins. A snore escaped from George, stirring his twin just enough to wipe away the drool.

McGonagall fought the urge to gag and drag them out of beds and force them to clean up their mess. She stepped over a box of heavens knows what -she wasn't interested in finding out- and stopped herself in front of Lee.

After calling his name countless times and only getting a murmur in response, McGonagall sighed and gave Lee a gentle shake. It was enough.

"Who spanked the dragon?!" he cried as he sat up with a jolt.

McGonagall simply blinked at him. She would never understand the minds of teenage males.

"I can assure you, Mr Jordan, nobody has spanked any dragon but I cannot say the same for if you do not get up this instant!" she snapped.

Lee's mouth open and closed repeatedly. "Professor?" he asked confusedly. "W-What are you doing here?"

"I require a private word with you, Mr Jordan. If you would be so kind as to come with me now," McGonagall gestured for him to follow her over to the door. "And do remind Mr Weasley and Mr Weasley to wipe their chins before they head downstairs," she tutted at the snoring twins.

"Professor!" Lee said suddenly, jumping out of bed and forgetting for the moment he was clad only in pyjamas as he hurried after her. "If this is about my commentary, I apologized a million times! I know I shouldn't have called that Slytherin, 'Death Eater scum'! I didn't mean to, well yes actually, I did and quite frankly, I'm not sorry at all but you can't stop me from commentating! It's my life! Have some mercy! Let me-"

"Mr Jordan!" McGonagall yelled, stopping him mid-sentence. By now, the twins had awoken and were staring in amusement at Lee who had fallen to the floor on his hands and knees.

"Yes Professor?" Lee asked meekly as he scrambled to his feet.

"This has nothing to do with - that incident at the match," McGonagall said in a tight voice. "It has to do with something else entirely - Miss Spinnet to be precise."

The twins entertained smirks vanished and Lee straightened up at once.

"Oh," he mumbled. "Right"

"Follow me, Mr Jordan," McGonagall ordered, and as Lee slid out the bedroom door behind the Professor, Fred and George scrambled out of their beds to press their ears up against it.

Being a Sunday, not many students were up and so, McGonagall closed the fifth year door and turned her back to it as Lee stepped in front of her. She decided to get straight to the issue.

"I understand that you've taken on the responsibility of helping Miss Spinnet through this?" she asked. Out of the corner of his eye, Lee noticed the door open just a crack and saw two very curious faces and Lee could have sworn, he saw McGonagall struggling to conceal a smile.

"Yes," Lee nodded. "That's right, I have."

"I hope you realize what you're doing. You're giving up a lot of your time - time that, judging from your last round of test scores from my class would be put to better use for studying."

"I understand that, Professor," Lee said. "But Lees-Alicia is my friend and she's probably really scared right now. I want to help her and I'm going to. You don't need to worry about my marks, I'll study whenever I'm not helping her, but she needs me Professor."

"Very well, Mr Jordan, I can see you've made up your mind," McGonagall remarked. "In that case then I'm going to give you some very valuable information that will assist you in caring for Miss Spinnet but you cannot allow anyone to see you do it and you cannot repeat this to anyone, especially not Mr Fred and George Weasley." She said the last part so loudly that there was no doubt in Lee's mind, she knew the twins were listening.

"You have my word, Professor," Lee vowed.

The corners of McGonagall's lips twitched but the next five words out of her mouth made no sense to Lee or the twins lugging in behind the door.

"Jump the first three steps," she smirked, and without another word, she headed towards the stairs with a wistful glance over her shoulder.

Once the tail end of her bottle-green robes were out of sight, Fred swung open the door.

"What the bloody hell was that all about?" he demanded, ushering Lee in but barely a second had passed before Oliver came into view.

"Quidditch pitch," he barked immediately to the Weasley pair. "Ten minutes!"

He vanished almost as quickly as McGonagall had and the boys sighed as they made their way back into the room to get changed quickly and then out towards the stairs. As they travelled down, they wracked their brains trying to figure out what McGonagall meant.

'Jump the first three steps? Jump the first three steps. Jump the-'

Reaching the bottom step, Lee felt someone nudge him, and both he and Fred turned to look at George who nodded towards the other side of the room. They followed his gaze to Harry and Ron who were waiting at the bottom of the girls dormitory stairs for Hermione.

Lee knew that boys had no hope of getting up to the girls rooms, the stairs were charmed to-

It suddenly clicked for all three boys.

'Jump the first three steps.'

Almost as if rehearsed, their faces all cracked into identical mischievous, if not evil grins.

"Brilliant," they said in perfect unison.


End file.
